


You Make Me Brave

by Skyepilot



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Admiration, Awkward Flirting, Clothing, Comfort, Coulson being corny, F/M, Falling In Love, Flirting, Gazing, Gen, Humor, Love, Making Out, Mention of Christian Ward, Office, Reminiscing, Sexual Content, Skye loving Coulson's compassion, Sneaking Around, Spanking, Supportive Coulson, Tickling, Unresolved Sexual Tension, Wards are bad, adoration, anti-fascism as a turn on, mention of Grant Ward
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-30
Updated: 2014-11-04
Packaged: 2018-02-23 06:32:59
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,577
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2537762
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Skyepilot/pseuds/Skyepilot
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Post 02x06 ficlet.  Coulson loans Skye one of his shirts.  The chapters are stand-alone stories.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Borrowed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Coulson helps Skye's resolve to visit Ward one last time (for now) by loaning her his shirt

“You heading back down there?”  
  
“I will in just a moment,” she answered, staring at the monitor. HYDRA bases were dotted across the globe.  
  
“He'll be gone, soon,” he said, stepping close to her.  “No more… _monster_ …in our basement. You'll never have to see him again. Never have to utter another word.”  
  
“You don't know how much I've wanted to hear you say that,” she replied, with a sad smile.  
  
He smiled back, a softness in his expression, as he put a hand on her arm.  
  
“Do you really believe they can hold him?” she asked, crossing her arms and turning back to the monitor.

 The look in her eyes said it all to him.  What she believed.

“I believe his brother…will want to make sure that happens. And if not, he may still have a use to us. He won't find us until we want him to.”  
  
“Because of what?” Skye asked, disbelieving.  
  
“Because I have to believe that,” he said.  His eyebrows knotting together. “Because if I think any differently, he won't leave here alive. And then we won’t have our deal.”  
  
“I wish I could take you in there with me,” she confessed, staring down at the floor. “Having to play along, having to watch his face...”  
  
“You've managed so well all along, Skye,” he said. “And honestly, I don't even feel I've earned the right to say I'm proud of you. But, I am.”  
  
She nodded and then reached for him, hugging him tightly, as he sighed and hugged her back.  After a moment she rested her face in the crook of his neck and shoulder, took in a deep breath.

 “I missed this,” she waited between the silence, his hand rubbing soothingly on her back.  “Feeling this close to you.”

 “I’ll be there with you Skye, I promise.  I never want you think I’d ever just leave you behind.”

 “Won’t lie,” she said, pulling away. “I was starting to wonder.”

 He peered at her a moment, his eyes looking at her, but his mind somewhere else.  It was just for a brief few seconds, and then he started talking again.

 “Come with me,” he said, as he headed out of his office.

 She followed him down the hall towards the quarters and after making their way to the door to his private room, he let them in and waited for her to get her composure and then pass through into the room with him.

 “We don’t have a lot of time,” he said.  “I have to leave to pay Senator Ward his visit.  But,” he added, walking back to the closet and opening the door, he shuffled through the hangers and pulled a dark teal button down shirt out.

“Probably just a little too big?” he mused, holding it up to her.

“You want me to wear your shirt?” she asked in disbelief, but there was a smile on her face.

“So I can be there with you. Too weird?” he said, with an awkward expression and with a shrug he started to put the hanger back.

“ _No_ ,” she said, reaching for it, touching the hanger.  “ _Yes_ ,” she said, flustered. “I mean, it’s weird, but that’s what I’ve always liked about you,” she went on.  “I mean, admired. Not that you’re weird, or anything, but that you think outside the box.  Right.”

He winced at her.  “I think I get your point.”

“ _Thank you_ ,” she said, as he let go of the hanger.  He turned and shut the closet door.

When he turned back, she leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek.

He swallowed and stared back at her, and she watched as a smile tugged at the corner of his mouth, his shoulders rocking slightly.

“You’re welcome, Skye,” he said after a moment.

“Does this mean we’re going steady?” Skye joked, raising an eyebrow, trying to break the tension.

“No,” he answered quickly.  “But, it _is_ kinda hot.”

“In that case,” she said, stepping forward, she watched his eyebrows head towards his hairline as she slid her free hand around the back of his neck and kissed him full on the mouth.

His brows relaxed and he closed his eyes, sliding his hand around her waist, pulling her in closer to him and deepening the kiss for just a moment before they parted.

“Just wanted you to have something....to take in with you,” she smirked.

Their eyes were locked on each other.

“ _Thank you_ ,” he said, and as she stepped back, he adjusted his tie.

“You know, it helps.  To think of you…when I’m in there.  It makes me feel brave. I think about what you would do.” 

“And I would have to say the same,” he said, tilting his head, considering her, staring back at her in amazement. 

Skye looked a little astonished, but very pleased.

“See you soon then,” she said, looking him over, before she turned and let herself out of his room.

“Definitely,” he replied.


	2. Sharing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Skye and Coulson flirt and talk after sex. Which, I love writing.

"Are you returning the shirt at any point?"  
  
"It looks good on me."

"It looks good on me, too."

"So do I."

She leans forward, kissing him much more slowly now. Leisurely. Taking her time over his lower lip.

They're in his room together. It's private. No worries that anyone will walk in on them.

Of course, there's always the risk with May. But, still.

After letting go of his lip, she stares down at him, tracing her fingers over the smile lines at the corners of his eyes. Over the smattering of grey showing at his temples.

She's thinking. He can tell about what.

"He doesn't know how to find us, Skye."

"It's just a matter of time," she says, running a finger over his chest hair. "I'm not afraid."

She's not looking at him, but he nods anyway. Worried. Unconvinced.

"I learned from him, you know? I watched him," she looks up at him now. "He has weaknesses, too."

She starts playing with the ends of her hair, waiting on him to say something.

"Good," he finally says, turning on his side towards her. "I kind of worried that.. _this_...was about that."

"Oh, no," she answered with a tiny shrug, running her finger over his mouth. "I've wanted to do _this_ for ages. _You_ , on the other hand..."

"The thought crossed my mind," he said immediately.

She huffed at him a little.

"Then we should've let him loose sooner," she said, leaning in to kiss him.

"It's not a joke," he said, pulling back.

"I know," she said going for the kiss, anyway. "I'm not afraid," she said, as her tongue flickered against his. "And it will be nice knowing he's not in our basement."

"He's headed straight for your father," he said, all business, suddenly. "We'll use that."

"That's the plan," she said, sitting up, stretching her neck.

" _Sheesh_ ," he said staring at her.

"What?"

He ran his hand over his chin. "You're _so beautiful_. I might need you to pinch me."

" _Corny_ ," she said, rolling her eyes.

He just shrugged innocently and she picked up the pillow and slammed it into him.

He set his jaw and held onto it as she tried for another shot, jerked it away from her.

" _I said_ , you're beautiful," he growled, sitting up and pulling her into him to kiss her, dragging her back down to the bed atop him.

His hands dug into her sides and she laughed, running out of breath.

"Have you been wanting _this_ forever, too?" he teased, leaning to the side to get an angle.

"No, she said grabbing for his hand. "S-stop! I hate being tickled."  
  
" _Tell me_ ," he says, indifferent to her scowl.

"What?" she replied coyly.

"How much you've been wanting me all this time!" he said, throwing his hands up.

"You are _not_ shy."

"Whatever gave you that impression?"

He put his mouth to her breast, hand kneading, teeth over her nipple as she fell forward, with a heavy sigh.

Then his hands were on her ass.

" _Tell me_ ," he said, smacking her cheek playfully, as she blushed, a tiny laugh caught in her throat.

He looked surprised. "I guess...you _liked_   that?"

"Stop trying to embarrass me."

"I'm not. Just learning new things. _Skye likes_..."

"You asked me a question," she interrupted, staring him down.

"Yes," he answered politely, crossing his hands on his chest. "All ears."

"It will probably be different every time I tell it," she starts. "It depends on the day, what mood I'm in..."

He smiled at that, liking the suggestion of more, of how much she'd thought of it. That this wasn't just a rush of emotion and fear. He knew it, but, he wanted to hear it, anyway.

"What about tomorrow?" he asked. "What do you think it will be tomorrow?"

She obviously liked the way he was looking at her. Very sincere, because, he was saying something in the asking.

Her eyes searched him, and he'd seen her do it before. But now, he doesn't have to question whether it was just for him.

" _Skye_."

"Tomorrow," she begins, "It will be when you looked back at me, on the day we stopped Mike from dying at the train station. And I knew then, that you were one of the best men I would ever know. That your compassion was almost _too_ real. And, that your life meant more than just something belonging to yourself."

He wiped away at his face, looking at her eyes get big and teary as well.

"Okay," he said, pulling her down again for another kiss.

" _Okay_."

"Does this mean I can keep the shirt?" she said, smiling against his mouth.

"Yeah," he said, smiling back.

 


	3. Stealing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This diverges from the other two. Coulson notices Skye is wearing his shirt.

“Understood.”

He slowly puts the phone down.

“Ward escaped,” he says, looking at May then Skye.

“I'm going to let the others know,” May answers him, with a deep frown, she leaves the two of them alone.

He’s still looking at Skye.

She takes a deep breath, a steely look on her face. 

“We knew this would happen.”

“Doesn't make it sit any better,” he says, settling on the edge of his desk.

He actually looks pretty miserable about the whole thing. He thinks about Senator Ward and his eagerness to cause them trouble.  About how he also agreed he was tired of thinking, in any capacity, about Ward.

“We know where he's headed,” she replied.

It’s a good guess, yes,” he said with an encouraging nod. “And we'll get them both.”

“Funny,” she says sarcastically.  “Maybe I should charge dues? My very own stalker's club.”

“ _Skye_...”

“What?” she shrugged. “I should at least get something out of it.”

He wasn’t sure what else he should say.  He felt like she needed to get this out.

“Bonus points if you're a murdering monster?”

“You did not do anything to deserve this,” he says, touching her arm.

“I know,” she said, holding back emotion. “It just feels...”

“Hey,” he said, wrapping his arms around her. She leaned into him, crying a little.

“You are one of the bravest, most amazing women, I've ever known, Skye. And you did all of that without either of them. And you'll do even greater things.”

“Thanks,” she said sincerely, looking up into his eyes.

They smile at each other, taking comfort in the shared warmth.

“Is that my shirt?” he asks tentatively, a moment later.

“Um...yes,” she answers, feeling suddenly embarrassed.

Coulson just watched her pursing his lips, waiting.

“I'm sorry I just needed you in there with me and you were gone. With the Senator. So, I borrowed this.”

“It kind of....fits you...,” he offers, not sure what exactly he means by that.

“I know it was an invasion of your privacy,” she says very quickly. “And it won't happen again.”

“Okay. Well, I was invading your privacy not so long ago,” he says, looking down at his fidgeting hands. “So, maybe we just call it even?”  
   
“Okay.”

He starts to say something else and stops himself short.  Then he starts again.

“Every time I think I've got you just a little figured out, you do something that surprises me.”  
   
“What do you mean?”

She looks intrigued.  By the idea that he’s tried to figure her out.  Even a little.

“My shirt,” he says, pausing.  “You've been getting intel from Ward for weeks. Presumably, without _any other_ articles of my clothing,” he asks, raising his eyebrows.

“I promise,” she says, rolling her eyes in embarrassment.

“But this time...?”

He lets it hang there. 

“I always knew you were upstairs,” she said. “And this time, you weren't.”

He took her hand, thumb dusting over her knuckles. She squeezed back.

“I wish I could’ve been.  I’m here now,” he says.

“Yes, you are,” she answers slowly, gazing at him.

She leans forward, watching him, waiting for any sign that might tell her no, but there is none.

Her mouth touches his in a brief, gentle, kiss.

She hovers there for a moment, hearing him swallow, hearing his breath catch in his throat.

Stepping in closer, she kisses him again, slowly, but with more intent.  Braver.  He tilts his head and kisses back as her hand slides up the leg of his trousers to rest at his hip.

It’s all the permission he needs, and he has his hand in her hair, and on the dip of her waist, pulling her into him on the desk.

She settles into him, her fingertips touching the top of the desk to balance herself as his kisses become more demanding, his tongue opening up her mouth and pressing inside. 

He’s stirred up in his suit, she can feel that he wants out of the jacket and starts to slide it down off of his shoulders, letting it fall back against the top of the desk as he shakes it loose.

Hands back on her, one is making its way into the back of her jeans, pulling out his shirt from off her body, hand sliding up against the softer than soft skin there, rubbing against her lower back, urging her into him in a rocking motion.

He suddenly stops, pulling away to take a breath, eyes piercing her.

“If this goes any further, we need more privacy,” he says.

“Do you want this to go further?” she asks, sounding a little satiated.

“Yes.”

She laughs a bit.  It was a quick reply.  The tone, completely sure.

“Do you?” he says, now doubting.

She looks down at his tie, sliding her hand down the silk.  Her other hand starts to work at the knot.

He pushes her backwards with his hips as he stands up and off the desk, his fingers tipping her jaw up to him as he kisses her deeply again.  He can feel her hands digging in at his hips.

“You have no idea what I’m going to do to you,” he says.

“I dunno,” she answers.  “I’ve imagined quite a lot.”

That gives him pause.  The surprise thing again.

“I’d like to hear all about it,” he says, reaching back to grab his jacket.  He slips it on and then turns her around quickly to tuck the shirt back into her jeans, letting his hands linger against her skin there as she leans back into his arms and starts to kiss his neck.

“I’ll tell you everything,” she whispers.

His eyes flicker to the door for a moment, and then he slides his hand up to her breasts, caressing them through the fabric and then slipping one into the open v of the shirt.

“ _Dammit_ , we need to get a room,” he says, with a chuckle, finding her mouth again.

It would be so easy to do this right here, right now.

He slips his hand out of her shirt just when he hears the door click.

It’s barely enough time, but he runs his hand down the front of his suit as Hunter lets himself in.

“Hello,” he says, mouth hanging open, looking back and forth between them. “Heard the good news.”

Skye folds her arms and stares back at him.

“Just came to see how you were doing.  But, it looks like it’s all under control,” he says, a slight smile forming on his face.  He was waiting to see who would take the bait first.

“I mean, I hope I didn’t _interrupt anything_ ,” he says, leaning in a bit, when no one responds.  “Is there an echo in here?”

“That’s just inside your head,” Skye says flippantly.

“You know,” he went on, turning to the windows and the office door, “There’s a bit of privacy, but, you can get little outlines and things.  Shapes,” he said, tracing around with his finger in an obvious display.

“Like snogging...shapes.”

Coulson was pressing his tongue to the inside of his cheek, looking away at the floor.

“Thank you, for that, Hunter.”

“Anyway,” Skye said, turning away from him and back toward Coulson. “I’m very happy to return the item I took from you.”

“Oh, I’m glad we agree on that,” Coulson said, with a smirk.

“I’ll take care of that right away,” she said.

“Please do.”

He watched her walk out of his office, and then he frowned over at Hunter.

“Don’t you have somewhere else to be?” Coulson asked, raising his eyebrows.

Hunter smirked back at him.

“ _Don’t you_?”


	4. Appropriated

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Coulson's thoughts when they watch Senator Ward on cable news, and then after.

Despite all the setbacks, all the pitfalls, and hard lessons that came with resurrecting SHIELD he took one small comfort.

He wasn't in this alone.

And even though he'd been organizing and recruiting, trying to keep the lights on, it had felt lonely.

Now, that had lifted.

It felt right. Having her next to him again.

Almost imperceptibly, he shifts his weight. Closer.

They are standing side-by-side watching Senator Christian Ward be interviewed on cable networks.

The man had a lot of nerve. Calling out SHIELD as a terrorist organization when his scheme was little more than a fascistic power grab?

Where did he get off?

By any means necessary... He has no idea how they will bring the pain, and none of that's going down on his watch.

Douchebag is probably HYDRA, too.

He feels it then, like a tingling on the back of his neck, and he looks over at her.

She's watching him.

It must have shown on his face, the anger.

He knows his face isn't angry anymore. Now he's just...distracted.

Her eyes meet his for just a moment, curious, and then she turns back to the screen.

Without a word.

He holds his gaze on her longer than he should, and then looks down.

It's just a fraction of a second, but the idea is there.

He's still pulling the Senator's words through these thoughts to lodge somewhere in his mind.

Then he draws his attention back to the screen, tries to let it go.

But he's thinking now. And that's dangerous.

"Guess being a douchebag runs in the family," Skye says, breaking the silence, eyes darting towards him again.

He purses his lips.

So, she was reading his mind, then.

It's so familiar.

"Are you surprised?" he replies.

  
***

"I told Senator Ward he was taking a little 'me time'".

She laughs. "Nice."

"Because, remember when I knocked on the SUV, and then you said...?"

"I _do_ remember that," she says, interrupting, a bit chastising.

But not too much. She's running her finger along his smiling mouth, and he's suddenly distracted.

"I like the way my shirt looks on you," he says, his hand tracing over her stomach beneath the partially unbuttoned shirt.

She's wearing that, and not much else. They're in his room and it's after everything has settled down. She surprised him by being here. And he was surprised, and not at the same time. He didn't question it, anyway.

"And...do you remember when I told you to 'slide on in'?" she teases, her hand running up his arm and over his bare shoulder.

"Yeah...," he says, his tongue running over his top lip, thinking it over.

"I meant it."

He leans over to kiss her, as she arches towards him, her fingers arriving behind the back of his head to urge him on.

This is all pretty new. Since they started talking again and after he told her everything, he thought they would be closer, but this was more than he'd hoped for.

Skye was always more than he'd hoped for.

"And I told you not to call me Phil," he said, pulling back for a moment.

"You still haven't asked."

"I just figured you'd reintroduce it at some point, and I'd accept it. But, you haven't."

"This is too calculated for me," she said, rolling her eyes, then running her hands along his back. "Just ask."

He looks down at her, feels something inside of him coming apart. Maybe it was just the day. Getting rid of so many things that stood between them.

"Will you call me 'Phil'?" he whispers, leaned forward, his mouth touching hers.

She kisses him once, sweetly, drinking him in this moment.

"Phil," she breathes between his lips.

His eyes close hearing her say his name, feeling it, and then her arm is around his back, pulling her down to him as she kisses him again.

"Phil."

He kisses back and it's in answer, feeling the relief of another wall finally coming down between them.

One by one, she's dismantling him.

And he's falling more in love.


End file.
